Known portable communication and/or storage devices such as tablets or mobile phones are typically found in controlled environments, such as the workplace, and their use permitted and sometimes even encouraged as a means of communication among individuals operating in those environments (e.g., coworkers) and with the outside world. Devices of the type described above are often capable of taking, storing, and even transmitting digital impressions, such as digital photographs, digital audio, and/or digital video. That capability could however be problematic in particular controlled environments.
For example, hospitals and other medical-services establishments often operate under strict privacy-based regulatory frameworks that make the unauthorized sharing and/or transmission of digital images outside of the establishment a potential source of liability. More specifically, for example, the external, unauthorized sharing, and/or transmission of a digital image depicting a patient's body may be found to violate that patient's privacy rights, and the establishment may face undesired consequences as a result. This is more so in view of the ubiquitous nature of mobile phone use and the increased capability of mobile phones, which may inadvertently result in a digital image being broadly shared through social media, for example.
Likewise, manufacturing sites often carry out manufacturing operations that are intended to remain secret, so as to prevent competitors from gaining an unfair competitive advantage from learning the details of those operations. While the use of portable communication and/or storage devices in the interior of those manufacturing sites may be encouraged—so as to foster communication between technical personnel, for example—it may lead to the unauthorized sharing of digital impressions with the outside world, and the information falling into the hands of a competitor. In another non-limiting example, finance-related facilities may be exposed to the unauthorized taking and even the unauthorized sharing of digital impressions containing social security numbers or other sensitive financial information.
Yet in another example, high-security areas such as certain sections of an airport or other government-controlled facilities may face similar challenges from exposure to portable communication and/or storage devices having the functionality described above.
It would be desirable, therefore, to address the shortcomings described above as well as others in connection with the use of portable communication and/or storage devices typically found in controlled environments.